Falls



F. L. COLLIS.

SWEEPER.

APPLICATION man Demi, 1911.

ATTOR N EY mann/mn cn., WASHINGTON. U. C.

F. L. CLLIS.

swEEPEn. Y

L: v APPLICATION FILED DEC-17| 1917. 1,316,355. PatentedSept.16,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Il INVENTOR ATTORNEY F. L. COLLIS.

SWEEPER.

APPLICATION man umu. |911.

www

ATTO R N EY FREI) L. COLLIS, OF IOWA FALLS, IOWA.

swrziirnn.v Y i Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Slept. 16,1919.

Application led December 17, 191,7. Serial No. 207,608.

To all whom it may concern .i

Be it known that I, FRED L. CoLLIs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Iowa Falls, in the county of Hardin and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Sweepers, of which thefollowing is a specifi-cation.

This invention relates to sweepers, an

vmore particularly to sweepers 'of that class used for sweeping streetsand similar purposes.

This invention is intended more particularly as an improvement on `thesweeper shown in my application Serial Number 136,760 for sweepers filedDecember 13, 1916, and allowed October 6, 1917.

One of the main objects of the invention is tol provide a sweeper of thecharacter stated of simple construction and operation having a receivingcasing or hod into which the material gathered is discharged from aninclined trough, an elevator being mounted above this trough with itslower run operative in the same and provided with brushes.

A further object is to provide a sweeper in which the gathering troughis so constructed as to permit the material gathered to be v'easily Vandproperly distributed in the receiving hod or casing. Another object isto provide means whereby material may be discharged directly into thereceiving casing or, if preferred, a. bag or similar receptacle may besecured in the casing and the material discharged from the troughdirectly into the same. A still further object is to provide an elevatormechanism of simple construction and operation and simple and efficientmeans for adjusting the same longitudinally and toward/and away from thegathering trough. Further objects will appear from the detaileddescription.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section taken through a sweepingmachine constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig, 2 is a top plan view with the inclosing casing broken away.

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail of the lower portion of the gatheringtrough and elevator.

Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on line 5,-75 of` Fig. 4.

Fig. 6' is a fragmentary underneath vie ofthe i gathering trough.

may be formed as a unitary structure.

The main supporting frame is formed with the side bars 1 ofsubstantially rectangular shape in cross section the upper end portionsof which are disposed at an angleand inclined upwardly fand rearwardlyto provide the spaced handle bars 2. Each of the side frame bars isprovided, intermediate its ends, with a bearing collar 3 secured'thereto and depending therefrom. This collar rotatably supports an aXle4 at each end of which is secured a ground wheel 5. A sheet metalreceiving casing 6 is secured to the side ,bars of the frame so as to becarried thereby, the upper portion of this casing being extendedforwardly and downwardly to provide a hood 7 which incloses thegathering trough and elevating mechanism, this hood being o'pen .at itslower end. The inclosing casing comprising the-receptacle 6 and hood 7may, of course,

be sectional, if preferred, as indicated, or

A sheet metal gathering trough 8 is mount- -ed on the main frame bars 1,this trough being provided with the lateral upwardly Vdirected flanges 9which are pivotally secured at their lower'ends, by means of bolts10,-tol the side bars of theV supporting frame. By this means, thetroughiS is mounted so as to be rockableY about an 4axis extendingtransversely thereof and adjacent the lower end of the` trough. Thistrough is sectional, having the lower section 8a and the up- -persection 11 ywhich is constructed in the same manner as the lowersection. The upper end portion of the bottom of trough section 8 isturned downward substantially at lright angles to the trough to providelan integral flange 12, a similar ange 13 being formed at the lower endlof trough section-11. These two flanges 12 and 13 are provided withalined openings which receive spaced 'resilient rods 14 the lower endsof Awhich are flattened and rivetedto thel bottom of trough section 8a,'as at 15. The upper end of each rod 14 is turned upward to provi-de anupwardly directed finger 16 which is adapted, when upper troughlsection" 11 is inY lowered position, to engage about 'the u'pper'edgeof' this trough section so as to secure it against movement. The twosections 8a and 11 thusco'nstitute" a continuous trough the upper end ofwhich is so positionedas to discharge material into the receiving casing6 in rearOfShaft 4. v`By disengaging the'ngers 16 from the upper edge oftrough section 1l, this section may be slid upward manually on the rods14 until the fingers 16 engage into the apertures 17 provided throughthe bottom of this trough section for this purpose. The rods will thusserve to releasably secure the upper trough vsection in spaced relationto the lower trough section thus providing an opening between these twosections through which the material will be discharged into the hod fromthe upper end of the lower section 8a. By this means, the material maybe discharged into the receptacle-so as to be evenly distributedtherein. At each end of the receptacle 6, adjacent the upper end of thetrough, is loosely secured a deiiecting plate 18. This plateis formed'from sheet metal being provided at each end with a sleeve 19 which issecured about a rod 2O vhaving an eye at' its upper end which islooselysecured through an eye bolt 21 secured in the end of the casing. Each ofthe rods 2O is provided at its lower end, with a hook 22 which may beengaged about a ring 23 to which may be securedfthe upper end of a sack24, the ring thus serving to support the sack in open position, in thewell known manner. The plates 18 and the supporting means therefor serveto detachably support a sack into which the material may be discharged,and also provide deflecting elements for directing this material intothe sack as it is discharged from the upper end of the gathering trough.When not in use, the deflecting plates 18 are *suspended from theeyebolts -21 in parallelism with, and closely adjacent, the ends of thereceiving casing 6 so as not to in any way interfere with the operationof the machine in the manner above described. The lower trough section8a is secured, intermediateV its end, by means of bolts 25 insertedthrough the flanges 9 and through `arcuate slots 26 in the ends ofcasing 6. This provides means whereby the trough may be rocked about itspivotal aXis so as to adjust the inclination of the trough, as desiredor necessary,'the trough being secured in this adjustment by means ofnuts threaded on the outer end of the bolts 25 and engaging the ends ofthe casing, in the usual manner.

A conveyer or elevator' indicated generally by 27 is mounted above thetrough with its lower run operative in the same. The frame of thisconveyer is provided with side bars 28 which are pivotally connected attheir 4upper 'ends by a cross rod 29 to the ends-of arcuatebars 30 theupper ends of which-are pivotally'secured to the side bars 1- -of themain frame by Abolts 31. The cross rod 29 extends through the ends ofreceptacle `6 so asto prevent relative movement between bars 28 and' 30.Adjacent its lower end, eachl side bar 28 of theelevator frame isconnected by slot and bolt connections, as

at 32, to the upper end of a supporting arm 33 the lower end of which ispivotally secured to the side bar 1 of the main frame. Each bar 28 isfurther provided, adjacent its lower end, with a longitudinallyextending slot 34. These slots receive t-he reduced threaded ends of atransverse shaft 35. Adjusting and securing nuts 36 are threaded on theends of the shaft and engage the outer faces of bars 28. By this means,sha'ft may be adjusted longitudinally of the conveyer or elevator frame.Sprocket wheels 37 are rotatably mounted on shaft 35 adj acent the sidebars 28. These sprocket wheels are in alinement with sprocket wheels 38secured on the elevator drive shaft 39 which is rotatably mounted inbearing blocks 40 at the upper ends of supporting arms 41 pivotallysecured at their lower ends, as at 42 to the side bars 1 of the mainframe.

Each of the supporting arms 41 is securedl wheels 37 and 38 adjacenteach side of the elevator frame, and these chains carry the suitablyspaced brushes 45 secured thereto,

these brushes` operating in the gathering trough during their upwardmovement' so as to elevate the material engaged thereby.

A sprocket wheel 46 is mounted on shaft 39, which extends through eachend of the receptacle 6, adjacent each end thereof, for free rotation.This sprocket wheel is provided with a. clutch element 47 whichcooperates with a clutch member 48 feathered on theshaft and normallyheld in engagement withY element 47 by an expansion spring 49, andoperatively connects the sprocket wheel to the shaft. This clutch iscontrolled by a tapered head 50 which may be moved in either directionbetween the elements of the clutch by an operating rod 51 the forwardend of which is pivotally secured to a downwardly directed arm 52provided at the end of the shaft 53 to a hand rod 54 which is rockablymounted in the rearward ends of the hand bars 2 and secured on theshaft. A sprocket ring 55 is secured on the inner face of the groundwheel 5 and is connected by a chain 56 to the sprocket 46. By rockingthe hand rod 54 in the proper direction, the elevator may be thrown intoor out of voperation as desired.

A scraping blade 57 is mounted beneath the trough at the lower endthereof. This blade is in the form of a flat strip of sheet metal ofproper gage and temper and projects forwardly of the lower end of thetrough proper. Blade 57' is turned up, at each end, to provide anupwardly directed securing ear 58. This Vear is positioned `intermediatea forwardly and ylaterally drected gathering wing or member 59 and thelower end of the main frame bar 1. A securing bolt 60 is insertedthrough wing 59 and ear 58, a nut 61 being threaded on this bolt andengaging the outer face of bar 1. By this means, the blade may besecured in proper' position at the lower end of the trough. The bolts 60also provide means whereby the angle of the blade may be adjustedrelative to the trough, as well as serving to secure the gatheringmember 59 to the frame of the machine. A strap brace 62 is secured atits rearward end to frame bar 1 and, adjacent its forward end togathering member 59 by means of a bolt 63. The forward portion of thisbrace is bent around the forward end of member 59 so as to provide aguard 64 therefor. By this construction, the gathering trough may haveits inclination varied independently of the gathering blade, and thegathering blade may have its angle to the trough adjusted to suitcircumstances. By means of the slot and bolt connections between thearms 33 and 41 for supporting the conveyer frame and the bars 28 and 30of this frame, the conveyer may be adjusted toward and away from thetrough to accommodate wear of the brushes, and the inclination of theconveyer relative to the trough may be varied to suit circumstances.Also, the drive shaft 39 may be adjusted toward and away from the frontshaft 35 so as to take up slack in the chains 44 of the elevator, theextent of this adjustment being increased by the adjustability of theshaft 35 longitudinally of the elevator frame. A supporting roller 70 isrotatably mounted at the lower end of each side bar 1 in a mainsupporting bracket 71 secured to the side bar. These rollers are sopositioned as to bring the lower edge of blade 57 closely adjacent thesurface to be swept, the rollers supporting the weight of the machineand serving to prevent unnecessary wear or abrasion of the cutting edgeof the blade.

The hood 7 is provided with a suitable opening for permitting access tothe upper portion of the elevator mechanism which is normally closed bya sheetV metal door which is hingedly secured at its upper edge, bymeans of the hinges 66, of the casing or hood. By lifting this door,ready access to the interior of the casing is obtained. The receptacle 6is provided with a door 67 for permitting removal of the materialtherefrom, this door being normally maintained in closed position by asecuring means 68. As will be noted more particularly from Fig. 1 of thedrawings, the bottom 6a of receptacle 6 is inclined downwardly andforwardly. The object of this is to permit the water or moisture whichmay enter the casing to flow toward the front of the same through whichit may be drained by means of small openings provided for this purpose,if desired. It will be evident that there may be slight changes made inthe construction and arrangement of the different parts of 1ny inventionwithout departing from the field and scope of the same, and I intend toinclude all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims, in this application in which a preferred form only of myinvention is disclosed.

What I claim is:

1. In sweeping machines, a supporting frame, a receiving casing carriedthereby, a gathering trough mounted in said frame composed of an upperand a lower section, said upper section having the lower end of itsbottomturned out to provide an integral flange and the lower sectionhaving the upper end of its bottom turned out to provide a similarflange, spaced supporting and securing rods secured to the said lowersection and extending through alined openings in said flanges andbeneath the upper section so as to support the same, said rods beingprovided at their upper ends with upwardly directed fingers adapted toengage over the upper edge of said upper section or into openingsprovided through the bottom of the upper section, so as to secure saidupper section in adjustment relative to the lower section, and a sweeperand conveyer operative in said trough and provided with spaced outwardlydirected brushes adapted to engage the surface to be swept and to forcethe sweepings upwardly in the trough.

2. In sweeping machines, a supporting frame, a receptacle carriedthereby, a gathering trough mounted on the frame and positioned todischarge into said receptacle, a flat gathering blade vsecured to theframe at the lower end thereof adjacent the forward end of the troughand adjustable about an axis extending transversely of the frame so asto have its angle to the trough varied laterally and forwardlyprojecting gathering members carried by the trough at the forward endthereof and servin to direct materials into the path of said lade, and acombined sweeper and elevator operative in said trough and provided withoutwardly projecting brushes for engaging materials at the forward edgeof the blade and forcing these materials up said trough.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

FRED L. COLLIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

